Sonu Nigam's Kismat - The Journey from Bus Stops to Stardom
- Hansa
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
Album: Kismat
Year of release: 1998
Lyricists: Biddu, Dev Kohli, Sonu Nigam & Timon Singh
Composer: Biddu & Sonu Nigam
1991. A father and son are waiting in the sweltering heat for the bus. In silence. They even avoid making eye contact. Out of embarrassment. And humiliation. They have just been shooed away by a music director. Shooed away like dogs...
We get a glimpse of what that young lad of eighteen, fresh out of school, feels back then, in the song 'Bus Stop.' This song is one of the eight numbers in the album Kismat.
It is reminiscent of Sonu's initial days of struggle, when he had no girlfriend and had to wait for hours with his father under the scorching sun for the bus to arrive. “I had tears in my eyes when I finished recording it,” says Sonu.
Sonu says it is his kismat to be working with the likes of Biddu and Dev Kohli on his second solo album. But it isn't just his kismat that the album goes on to become a huge hit. If a writer of the calibre of Dev Kohli is writing the lyrics, a music director like Biddu is composing the music, the best dance director in the land, Saroj Khan, is doing the choreography and the singer is none other than the latest singing sensation Sonu Nigam, the album cannot not be a hit!
On the 12th of April 2019, Sonu posts a video on Instagram in which he says - “Sometimes you're with everyone. And everybody's around you. But you feel that you're alone. Jaise kehte hein, mele mein akele ho jaana.” I'm immediately reminded of the lyrics of the song 'Tu,' which start with the line - aye dilruba, kitna haseen mela; mele mein bhi, yeh dil hai akela.
Penned by Sonu himself, who also composes the music of the song, 'Tu' is another one of the eight songs in the album Kismat. It is inspired by an old Russian/Kazakhstani song.
The camaraderie between everyone involved in the music video – the producers from Magnasound, composer Biddu and choreographer Saroj Khan, all working with Sonu for the first time, is terrific. Incidentally, while Sonu is busy shooting for this song, his name is being announced on stage as the winner of the Best Playback Singer Award, at the Zee Cine Awards ceremony. The music video of 'Tu' is shot on a five-day schedule, something that has never been done before.
The video takes everyone by surprise. It breaks away from the image of Sonu as the sweet sanskari host of Sa Re Ga Ma and shows him in a new light. Sherwanis and silk kurta-pyjamas are replaced by jeans, caps and shades, to create a cool dude look. Plus Sonu's boyish charm, groovy moves and the alluring Bipasha Basu set the screen ablaze. The song becomes a huge hit and remains a favourite even today. Sonu's new look is lapped up by the teenyboppers and his posters sell like hot cakes.
The song proves to be especially popular with youngsters, but it is not just Sonu on whom the teen girls fawn on. Schoolboys, who sing this number at their school annual function, start becoming popular as well!
All eight songs in the album are catchy and hummable, with lyrics that are easy to remember and melodies that appeal to people of all ages and walks of life.
Kismat goes on to become a platinum hit and establishes Sonu as a pop artist, in addition to being a playback singer, a rare feat in those days. Says Sonu – "Kismat put me in the pop space, which I was yearning to be in. Because I was young. I knew I could sing, I could dance, I could look good if I wanted to, so I thought that I should be there and what am I doing? I don't have any single private album.”
Sonu comes to Mumbai on the 22nd/23rd of September 1991 to make it as a playback singer. That's almost thirty-five years ago... when he has to commute by bus and sometimes even walk long distances in order to save the bus fare. How far he has come since then and what a fascinating journey it has been!
A journey which begins with being chased away from music studios like a pariah to being chased by millions, wherever he goes. A journey that starts with walking instead of taking the bus in order to save a few paise, to earning lakhs from a single concert. A journey which starts with begging for work, to becoming unstoppable, belting out one song after another. It is so incredible, sometimes you wonder – is it for real?
Seasons will change, good times and bad times will come and go, years will fly by, but Sonu's songs will always be there, like an evergreen tree. The body of work he has amassed over the years is phenomenal. He has sung over 6,000 songs. Songs that cover an entire gamut of emotions. There's a song for every mood in his arsenal. Besides, he is one of those unique singers who can match the talent of singers of yesteryears as well as that of the current generation. Listen to his singles like 'Totta' and 'Fire in the Sky.' Who can say they've been sung by the same singer who sang 'Sandese Aate Hain' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho?'
And not just Hindi songs. Even songs in other languages like Kannada have been sung so beautifully. For instance the song 'Baa Nodu Gelathi.' I can't understand a word and yet I love the song. No wonder Kannadigas shower him with so much love.
Yes, his journey is one that is going to inspire generations to come. His legacy, however, is not just the songs he has sung or created. It is the lives they have touched - the romances that blossomed, the children who were conceived (thanks to songs like 'Mujhe Raat Din') and the hope that was rekindled because of his songs.
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